Asia Part Two: Where it all Began - Explore Archived World Race Alumni Blogs

Welcome to part two of my Asia trip series!! I’ll break the ice by listing my three favorite experiences on the trip (pictures at the bottom)!

The Great Wall of China: This was the first big thing we did, and it was HARD. I was not expecting how difficult it would be, but it was so fun. We hiked the Badaling Section of the wall, which is the highest section. It was extremely steep and slippery due to the rain, but the weather was honestly perfect– it was misty which made the air cool. I’d say we were out of breath the whole time we were hiking but again… it was SO fun probably just because it is one of the seven wonders of the world. Despite not being able to see the expanse of the wall, I really loved it.
The Summer Palace: This was by far my favorite view throughout the whole trip. The Palace was beautiful, but the view that was phenomenal. Initially built in 1750, the Palace was the emperor’s summer home.. It is said to be the best preserved imperial garden in the world. We had to hike up a chunk of stairs, but it was so worth it for how much we got to see.
The Hug Elephant Sanctuary: The one thing that I really wanted to do on this trip was play with the elephants in Thailand. On our last day, we rode in a weird van without seats to an elephant sanctuary in the middle of the jungle. It seemed a little sketch, but it was a once in a lifetime experience. We got to feed four different elephants that were ages 10, 15, 25, and 35. After feeding them, we hiked to the “spa” which was just a big area where we splashed and rubbed them with some nasty looking mud. They were like big dogs and loved it. After getting very messy, we headed to the river where we washed them off and said goodbye. It was an adventurous and unforgettable day.

Sidenote favorites:

Favorite City: Hong Kong (despite the heat)
Favorite Food: Oddly enough, I did have the best Mexican food in my life in Bangkok at a restaurant called “Que Pasa.”
Favorite Mode of Transportation: The MTR in Hong Kong. It was fast, cheap and easy to get to where we needed to go.

The real blog—

As I mentioned in my last blog, I want to share my experience visiting my orphanage, finding location, and the hotel where I met my family in the most authentic way possible. I know that each international adoption is unique and each adopted child deals with it differently. I’m lucky to be so comfortable with my story and open to talking about it, so I hope it helps someone affected by adoption.

Here is a recap of my story: I was adopted from Gao Ming City, China when I was 11 months old by the BEST family ever. I have no idea who my birth parents are and had not been back to China until last month. I have never been very affected by my adoption and have always found it very normal. When I was certain that we would get to travel back to my “home” city and visit the place where I lived my first 11 months, I was excited, but I wasn’t sure how else I should feel.

Flash forward to the night before my “Heritage Tour” where we met a mother and daughter who had just gotten back from the daughter’s heritage tour. She had just graduated from college and now she was visiting her orphanage and finding location. They told us that it was emotional but good. They said “we survived.” At this point I still wasn’t sure how to feel about the whole opportunity and I didn’t know how I should feel. That night I felt a bit panicked while going to sleep. I felt that I should be more emotional and worried about how tomorrow would pan out. There seemed to be pressure on me to be more sensitive to the fact that I was going back to the place where I was abandoned or to the place where I spent the first 11 months of my life. It is hard to be emotional about a place that you can’t remember.

We were picked up by a local attorney named Jeffrey who took us The White Swan Hotel where I first got to meet my family. We took pictures on the Red Couch which made my mom emotional! That couch is where every baby who was adopted got to sit on the day of their adoption (pictures of “then and now” at the bottom). It was cute and special to see, but didn’t make me emotional.

Next we drove to my orphanage. When I was living there, there were 70 other babies. Now the facility houses about 18 children, all with special needs. Most orphanages in China are only for special needs children since the one child policy has been changed to two children. We arrived and were taken to a room with many of the workers. They sat us down and gave us water to drink before opening my file from when I lived there. There wasn’t anything new that my parents hadn’t seen. I got to meet the nanny that handed me to my mom the first time I met her which was very special. She was one of the two workers that were still there after 17 years. After telling them about my life (they really just wanted to know if I was a good student and made good grades lol) we got to meet the kids before their nap time! They were all so sweet. Despite having special needs, they were all very aware and communicative.

Our last stop before a sweet lunch with some of the workers from the orphanage was my finding location. When I was 12 days old I was left in a box at a bus station near a local orphanage. 18 years ago it would have been a busy stop that police officers would find many babies. We stopped and saw the location where the signs had been taken off and it was no longer a bus station. It was very weird to imagine someone leaving a baby there.

This day made me think about the fact that every Christian has a “finding location.” It’s the place where Jesus plucked you out of the crowd and called you His. We all as followers of Christ were adopted by Jesus and all have our own story to tell. I believe that my earthly finding location and adoption plays a crucial role in my spiritual finding location and adoption. Like in my first blog, I believe that I was saved multiple times. It was important that I got to see the city where I was saved first.

Now that the trip is over, I have had some time to think about that day. And while people have been asking me “How did you feel?” over and over again (which is perfectly okay) I still am not quite sure. It is certain that I am accepting of my adoption and love my story, but am also a little numb to it. I know that I could be anywhere else but Fayetteville, Arkansas right now but God chose me to be here. At this time in my life, I am happy where God has me and don’t dwell too much on the fact that I could be somewhere else. Wherever a child is from or what age they were adopted, they will handle it differently. Wherever they are in their process of acceptance, it’s okay. I will most likely never know who my birth parents are or know any details about where I am from. I’m still not even sure which part of China I am from (everyone kept telling me I looked like I was from northern China!) I’m grateful for the opportunity to take a Heritage Tour and get a feel for my life before Fayetteville, AR.

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FUNDRAISING UPDATE: I recently found out that I will need the Yellow Fever and Japanese Encephalitis vaccinations for my trip. The total cost of both will be $800. If you feel led to contribute to the cost of these vaccines, please make checks out to me and mail to:

Sarah West

3802 E. Chatsworth Road

Fayetteville, AR 72703

I am so grateful for everyone’s support through prayer and financial donations. Still overwhelmed by your generosity.

PRAYER REQUEST: On July 10th I will be going to training camp in Gainesville, GA! This is where I will be meeting my squad and preparing for the race. Please pray for the time that I will spend here and that my team and I would grow during our first ten days together.